


Casual Affair

by Chalichi



Category: The Walking Dead & Related Fandoms
Genre: Enemies to Lovers, Friends With Benefits, M/M, Mild Smut, Rape/Non-con Elements, not really a non-con but I'm tagging it anyway
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-29
Updated: 2016-12-29
Packaged: 2018-09-13 01:19:35
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,721
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9100174
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Chalichi/pseuds/Chalichi
Summary: It wasn't like he'd expected Paul to stick around throughout the night and wake up with him lying beside him. It wasn't like he expected to receive a softly spoken “good morning” and a kiss. No! That wasn't a part of the deal! But a big part of him was secretly hoping for it to happen someday.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Look over here before you go any further! 
> 
> So, I'm trying this again, but this time I want to warn you! 
> 
> In this fic there's a fight scene that turns into sex.  
> It is all consensual and no one is getting raped, but the last time I uploaded this fic some people got upset by the fact that it could be interpreted as a rape scene.  
> I have changed a part of it to make it less confusing.  
> But I just wanted to give you guys a heads up.  
> I don't want to upset anyone! 
> 
> And I want you guys to know that this fic isn't about the fight scene at all.  
> The fic is about love, give it a chance and you'll see that.

Daryl woke up to the sun shining in his eyes, through the broken part in his blinds he'd been meaning to fix since he moved into the house but never had come around to do.  
He regretted that now. 

He groaned and rolled over, laying his arm over to the other side of the bed, only to find it to be empty. Again.  
He sat up and looked over at the vacant part of his bed and let out a small sigh.  
It wasn't like he'd expected Paul to stick around throughout the night and wake up with him lying beside him. It wasn't like he expected to receive a softly spoken “good morning” and a kiss. No! That wasn't a part of the deal! But a big part of him was secretly hoping for it to happen someday.

He rolled over on his back again, shielding his eyes from the bright beams of light with his arm and shut his eyes, trying to get back to sleep.  
He knew he should get up. He really did! But he didn't have the willpower to get out of bed right now. 

His mind started to wander off to where their agreement had first started.

~ ~ ~

It was about two months ago, they had argued about where to look for supplies.  
Paul had come back from Hilltop to help Alexandria out after the war with Negan.  
Alexandria was running low on everything. Medicine, food and even clothes!  
So Paul decided to come and help out, being the caring person he was. 

Paul thought they should look for medical supplies first, but Daryl thought food should be prioritized due to the risk of starvation.  
They hadn't had a descent meal in weeks and Daryl hadn't been able to go on a real hunt for the same amount of time. 

“I get that! But infection is just as deadly. And it will kill a person quicker.” Paul said calmly, but Daryl could tell he was loosing his temper. His voice sounded strained, like he had to force himself not to shout at Daryl.

“I know that! But think about Judith! She can't go without food for as long as we can! So she will starve quicker!” Daryl had lost his temper a while back and was in full blown rage mode at Paul. He didn't care what the smaller man though, wise-assed hippie freak wasn't going to walk in here and order him around like he owned the place. 

Paul took a deep breath and walked away from Daryl. He walked towards the kitchen table where they had laid the map out. 

“Right. How about we try to find both, and hopefully in the same place?” Paul mumbled.  
“There should be a supermarket around this area with a pharmacy just around the corner.” He draw a circle around the location of where the store and pharmacy were and turned to look at Daryl again. 

“Let's hope they haven't been raided already.” With that he stormed out of Daryl's house, the atmosphere had grown thick and tense since their argument had started, and had only grew worse the longer they'd argued. 

Later that evening Rick knocked on Daryl's door and didn't wait for the hunter to answer the door. 

“Yeah, come in.” Daryl grumbled from the sofa. “Isn't like manners are important or anything…” 

“Jesus told me you two had a disagreement.” Rick cut Daryl off. 

Daryl snorted and stood up.  
“Yeah. Asshole though he could make all the calls, got sick of it.” 

Rick sighed and looked from the floor up to Daryl.  
“Look, I get it you don't like the guy. But you have to swallow it down. You two are the best for the job. And Jesus doesn't have to do this for us, but he does it anyway. That says a lot. So please- just make it work!” Rick looked at him with pleading eyes. 

Daryl sighed, he knew Rick was right.  
Paul could've stayed back at Hilltop and helped his people expand the colony, but he came back here to help Daryl's people get back on their feet instead. 

“Fine. I'll try not to kill him. Still don't like the guy though.” 

“Didn't say you had to like him, I just said you had to work with him.” Rick smiled. 

Daryl gave Rick a brief nod and Rick walked out.  
He could make this work right?  
Probably not…

*

The two hour long drive to the supermarket was a tense one.  
Neither Daryl or Paul had said a word to each other since they had sat down in the car together.  
Daryl had busied himself with staring out of the window or shooting glares at Paul behind the wheel whenever he could feel Paul looking at him.  
The air around them was so thick and tense Daryl was was worried he would suffocate from it. 

When they arrived at the supermarket they found out that most of the food had been scavenged already to Daryl's great dismay. Only a few canned goods were standing on the otherwise gaping empty shelves.  
The place was calm and quiet save for a few lingering walkers which they had taken down easily. 

Once they'd cleaned the supermarket out with whatever they'd though was necessary. Which had been whatever food there'd been left, a few batteries, hygiene products and a few clothes they found lying around. They loaded it up in the car and went for the pharmacy on the other side of the parking lot. 

The small pharmacy looked surprisingly untouched! No broken windows and the door was locked.

“I could try and pick the lock from this side and you could go to the back and see if there's another way in.” Paul said, breaking the lingering silence between them. 

Daryl grunted and started to walk around the small white building.  
The back door was shut tight and didn't have a lock on it. It didn't bulge no matter how many times Daryl tried to push it open and all of the windows were barred, so there was no chance in getting in that way either. 

Daryl sighed in defeat and walked back to where the entrance again.

Paul had managed to get the door partly open – there was chains from the inside still hindering them from getting inside – and the stench of rotting flesh and stale air were hitting them I the face like a brick wall.

“we should try and take out the walkers on the inside before we cut the chains.” Daryl mumbled to Paul. 

Paul nodded and started to pry the doors apart, the chains making a loud slamming sound against the doors.  
A snarling sounds and the shuffling of feet dragging on the ground could be heard from the inside. 

A total of five walkers emerged from the darkness inside the pharmacy.  
Paul held his knife at the ready and waited for them to get close enough. 

They took turns at stabbing the walkers as they appeared and dragged the now dead former people from the entrance to the parking lot.  
Daryl fetched the bolt cutters from the car and used it to cut the chains on the inside of the pharmacy. 

“Looks like they committed mass suicide.” Daryl said pointing at the open containers of drugs lined up at the counter. 

“Looks like. Some people just aren't built for this new world.” Paul said glancing at the containers. Daryl could see sadness in the younger mans eyes before he quickly looked away. 

“Come on. Let's hurry up, we're loosing daylight.” He said. 

They went through the pharmacy, grabbed all the antibiotics and painkillers they could find and also bandaids, feminine hygiene products, and various ointments.  
Daryl spotted Paul pick out condoms and some lube and shook his head in annoyance.  
Paul saw Daryl looking at him and tensed momentarily.  
“I'm not the only one who'll be using this, there's a lot of couples at hilltop, and I for one think they should practice safe sex.” He defended himself.

“Didn't say anything, did I?!” Daryl grumbled. 

“No you didn't, but I can tell what you were thinking.” Paul said, the strain in his voice visible again, and Daryl could tell another argument was on its way. 

“You have no fucking idea of what I thought!” Daryl almost shouted at him. 

Paul slumped his shoulders and sighed.  
“Look, we don't have time for this. Let's save this argument for when we get back and don’t have to worry about attracting walkers from miles away.” 

Daryl couldn't disagree with the scout even if he wanted to and grunted a simple “fine” at the man before returning his attention to the dusty shelves.

They grabbed the last useful items in the pharmacy and loaded them up in the car.  
The tensed atmosphere between them was back and it was impossibly heavier than before.  
The suffocating feeling was also back and again Daryl thought he was going to choke on the heavy feeling around them. 

“I'll drive!” Daryl said in an attempt to break the tension between them.

“Whatever.” Paul said and walked toward the passenger side. 

‘This is going to be a long ass ride back.’  
Daryl though and got in behind the wheel. 

*

It didn't get any better when they got back to Alexandria.  
Once they'd unloaded the car of items and given it to Olivia, Daryl took off towards his house.  
He could feel Paul staring after him and he couldn't care less.  
He would tell Rick he couldn't work with that little hippie freak anymore! He just couldn't! 

Daryl opened the door so hard it almost came off it's hinges.  
He slammed the door shut and ran up the stairs.  
He really needed a shower, but he didn't have the energy to actually take one.  
His head felt heavy and his body ached everywhere.  
He just wanted to sleep. 

Once he reached his bedroom he heard the front door open. 

“Daryl? Where are you?” He heard Paul call from downstairs. 

Fuck! Just what he needed! 

“Do I really have to lock the fucking door to get some goddamned privacy?!” Daryl called back. “What's with you people to just marsh in like you own the fucking place!” 

“Sorry.” He said as he saw Daryl starting to climb down the stairs. “Look, I really want to sort things out with you. I'm not saying we should be best friends or anything, but I'm really tired of this constant arguing.” He looked at Daryl, waiting for him to respond. 

Daryl did actually agree with him, but he couldn't just switch off the fact that everything about the guy ticked him off. And it wasn't even Paul's fault, he just did. 

“Alright. So, we just won't be in the same room at the same time.” He stated. 

Paul stared at him in disbelief.  
“What? Don't you want to sort out why we're at each other's throats all the time?” He said. 

“I don’t think there's much to talk about. You and I,” he said motioning his hand between them, “don't work. Simple as that.” 

Paul gave out a annoyed huff.  
“Okay. Look, I get that you're mad, the run didn't go as planned and all. But what I don't get, is why you're letting out all that anger on me! It's not my fault we didn't find as much food as you wanted! And it's sure as hell not my fault no one had raided the pharmacy yet!” Paul's voice got louder with each word and he got closer into Daryl's space, cornering him.  
Daryl did the first thing that sprung to mind, shoving him away, hard.. 

Paul flew backwards hitting the wall behind him.  
Daryl could see a fire of rage burning in the smaller mans eyes when he looked back at him from the wall. 

“You didn't just do that.” He said, venom lacing his words. 

Paul took a step forward and launched himself at Daryl, knocking him over with the impact of his body. 

They rolled around on the floor punching at each other, trying to get the other one to give up, which none of them wanted to do. 

Paul rolled them around, him sitting on top of Daryl, holding his arms in a vice grip above his head.  
“Fucking give up Dixon!” He shouted.  
Daryl struggled underneath him for a few seconds, not liking being held down by the hippie at all, but stopped when he couldn't feel his hands anymore.  
When he looked up at Paul he could se that he had a reddening bruise underneath his eye and a busted lip. The blood from the small cut on his lip was slowly running down towards his beard. His hair was all over the place, his beanie had been knocked off during the struggle and was laying on the floor near Daryl's arm. 

“Get the fuck off of me!” Daryl snarled, trying again to struggle against Paul.  
He bucked his hips upwards, accidentally grinding his groin against Paul's ass.  
The feeling of it made him swallow thickly.

 

Paul looked down at him with a slight smirk on his lips before he grounded his ass against Daryl crotch.  
Daryl let out a surprised gasp when he felt his dick come to life by the friction Paul was creating.  
He could feel the irrational anger fleeting away quickly and being replaced by another more burning emotion. 

Paul suddenly stilled his ministrations, making Daryl open his eyes – who he didn't remember closing.  
“What?” Daryl asked, sounding more annoyed than he expected. 

“Are you okay with this?” Paul asked.

“What?! Why are you asking this?” He said, starting to feel frustrated by the fact Paul had stopped and was now asking stupid questions. 

“I need to hear it. I need to be sure that this is what you want before we go any further.” He said, his eyes burning with just as much desire as Daryl was feeling surging through his body. 

“It is!” Daryl said, starting to feel more and more impatient.  
He released his hands from Paul's loosened grip and grabbed hold of his hips, pushing him flush against his straining erection.  
“I want this.” 

That seemed to spur Paul on and he started to grind himself against Daryl again.  
Paul leaned down and captured Daryl's lower lip with his teeth.  
Daryl groaned loudly against Paul's mouth. The feeling of Paul's teeth stinging his lip egging his arousal on even more. 

Paul released Daryl's lip before claiming his mouth in a fierce kiss.  
Daryl entwined his hands in Paul's long hair, tugging at it slightly. He felt more than heard Paul moan agains his lips.

“Maybe we should continue this upstairs?” Paul breathed against Daryl's mouth once they came apart for air. 

“Maybe we should.” Daryl answered just as breathless. 

Paul got up and tugged Daryl with him and more of less dragged him up the stairs. 

They both fell on the bed and claimed each other again.  
They made quick work on getting their clothes off, not getting the much needed skin on skin contact fast enough.  
They gripped at each other fiercely, biting and clawing on each other like wild animals.  
There was nothing romantic about it, more like a primal need for release.  
A need for the release of all that trapped frustration and anger that had been building up inside of them for so long.  
When they finally climaxed, all that pent up energy followed with it.  
Daryl collapsed on top of Paul, finally feeling at ease. He fell asleep feeling Paul track the scars on his back with his fingertips.

~ ~ ~

Daryl sighed again and sat up on the bed and picked up his clothes from the floor to get dressed. 

He got down to the kitchen and opened the cabinet in search for something to eat.  
He wasn't hungry, the sinking feeling in his gut had successfully wiped that feeling away and replaced it to a light nausea instead. 

He closed the cabinet and sat down on a kitchen chair instead.  
He leaned his head on his hands and looked out the window.  
He could see Aaron and Eric raking leaves in their front garden, Aaron laughing at something Eric had said.  
Michonne and Rick were walking hand in hand further up the street, Rick holding a secure grip on Judith who were seated on his hip. They were looking like the perfect happy family. 

Daryl frowned and pried his eyes away from the window, away from the display of happy couples.  
He folded his arms on the table and laid his head down on them. He stared at a small spot on the wall, that he thought most likely were blood of some sort. 

His mind kept running to Paul. What should he do?  
Tell him? What would Paul do if he told him?  
Leave? Stop their agreement?  
Daryl wouldn't be able to function right if he did that.  
He could live with having to push his own feelings down, but only if it meant he could have Paul, even if it just was on a physical plan.  
He could work with that, if he had to. 

He dared to glance out of the window again, just to see Aaron give Eric a soft kiss on the lips.  
Flashes of his and Paul's kisses invaded his memory and he stood up with a start, pushing the chair he was sitting on away so hard it fell backwards with a loud slam. 

“What are you doing?” A familiar voice said behind him. 

He turned around to see Paul standing behind him, looking at him curiously.  
He had a gray knitted pullover and a pair of green cargo pants on.  
His hair was freshly washed, and hung in light waves over his shoulders. 

Pauls gaze changed from a look of curiosity to concern, and Daryl wondered for how long he had been staring at the man. 

“I had a very vivid daydream.” He said then. 

“Ahaa.” Paul said, looking from the chair laying on the floor to Daryl. “Was it a dream about an evil chair?” 

Daryl followed Paul's gaze down to the chair and bent down to pick it up.  
“Nah, it wasn't.” He said looking back at Paul, placing the chair by the table again. 

“What was it about then?” His expression turning back to curiosity. 

“Walkers.” He said way too fast.  
Paul narrowed his eyes and tilted his head to the side. He reminded Daryl of a mischievous cat when he did that. 

“Yeah really!” Daryl said. No way in hell he was going to admit being jealous of all the happy couples living in Alexandria.

Paul shook his head, making his dark blonde locks sway back and forth.  
“Okay!” He said, clearly not buying it but dropping the subject to avoid an argument with him. 

“Yeah. Why are you here by the way? Wasn't you supposed to head back to Hilltop today?” Daryl asked in an attempt to change the subject. 

Paul straightened himself and glanced out the window before his eyes landed at Daryl once again.  
“I was.” He said shrugging. “But Rick found more use for me here, again.” 

Paul walked over to the chair Daryl had put back up and sat down on it.  
“What does he want you to do?” Daryl asked not liking how silent Paul had gotten. 

“He wouldn't say. He just said – and I quote, ‘I've got more use for you here.’ End quote. Then he just walked away.” He said looking Daryl in the eyes.

“Alright. Maybe he wants you to go on another run or something?” Daryl tried.

Paul shook his head again.  
“No, Michonne and Aaron are scheduled for the next run.” He explained. 

“Oh, okay.” Daryl said, looking down at Paul's hands who were fidgeting with a loose strand on his pullover.

“It's not like I mind being here, but it would've been nice of him to actually say what he wanted me to do, but I guess that's Rick for you!” He said with a small smile.

“Well I guess that's what I wanted to say,” he said getting up and started to walk towards the hallway. “That it looks like I'm sticking around a little bit longer, if you'd would like to hang out later or something.”

The hidden meaning in Paul's question made Daryl's insides flip and his face pink up a little.  
“Yeah, sure. You can come by later.” He said, not daring to look at Paul.

He heard Paul laugh as he walked out of the door. 

So, Paul would stick around for and unknown amount of time.  
That thought made him feel giddy and just a little bit hopeful. 

*  
Daryl stared up at the his bedroom ceiling, Paul was lying by his side snoring lightly. 

He'd come by a few hours later and more or less attacked Daryl, pushing him up towards the bedroom with an desperate urgency.  
The whole thing had taken Daryl by surprise, but when he had looked in Paul's eyes and seen the burning need in them, his own desperate need had flamed up. 

They had kissed each other breathless once they’d reached the bedroom and caressed every single exposed skin they could reach.  
Daryl had payed attention to the sensitive spots on Paul's neck, licking and nibbling at it until Paul had been a broken mess underneath him, pleading for Daryl to stop teasing and just to take him.  
And Daryl had gladly granted his wish, getting more and more desperate himself by the noises Paul had been making. 

After they were done Daryl had rolled away from Paul, both being totally spent.  
Paul had fallen asleep after a few seconds, but Daryl couldn't. No matter how exhausted he was. 

He turned his head to look at the sleeping man next to him, the pale moonlight made his face glow slightly.  
Daryl kept staring at the beautiful man beside him until the exhaustion finally claimed him. 

*  
When Daryl is woke up the next morning.  
His heart sank in his chest – a feeling he almost had grown accustomed to – he tried to push down the feeling of disappointment as he got up and got dressed. 

After he'd eaten a meek breakfast of stale crackers and a glass of water he got out of the house he'd learned to call his own to find Rick.  
He figured there would be something he could do to help out, he would do anything to focus on anything else than his steadily growing feelings for Paul. 

He found Rick by the gate in what looked like a heated discussion with Carl.  
As he got closer he was able to make out some of what the argument was about. 

“…the back wall will cave in!” Carl said in a stern tone. 

“I know that! But I still think it's an unnecessary risk to take!” Rick snapped back. 

“Do you want walkers marching in on us? Because that's what's going to happen if we don't do anything about it!” Carl said, his one eye looking his father down. 

Rick sighed and dragged his hand across his face, a move he did when he'd run out of arguments.  
By the smug look Carl was sporting he knew he'd won. 

“What are you shouting about?” Daryl asked when he was getting closer to them. 

Rick jumped slightly and turned around.

“Daryl, hi!” He said when he saw it was him.  
“The back wall has taken a lot of damage. We haven't gone our way to fix it yet and it's looking worse than ever now.” He said. 

“What my dad means is that if we don't fix it NOW it will cave in.”Carl interrupted. 

“Yeah.” Rick said looking at his son through narrowed eyes. “And boss junior over here,” he said with a gesture to Carl. “Thinks it is a great idea to start fixing it on the outside. I think it's an unnecessary risk because the noise will draw walkers over here, and the people on the outside will be an easy pray for them.” 

Daryl turned to look at the back wall. Even in the distance he could tell it was in a really bad shape, the top of it was gaping slightly and the temporary fix with duck tape was doing very little at holding it together.  
If a herd of walkers would start to pound on the wall they'd be done for. 

“That's why you wanted Paul to stay?” Daryl asked looking back at Rick. 

“Yeah. That and to help out with fixing some of the roofs.” He said looking down at the ground. 

With the way Rick was avoiding eye contact with him Daryl got the feeling he wasn't telling him the whole truth. He wanted to press him on the subject, but thought better of it. For now. 

“Anything I can do to help?” He asked, eager to work with something. 

Rick nodded and looked up at him again.  
“You can help Jesus out with the roof he's fixing. He's by the empty house right by the wall. Number ten I think.” Rick said.  
“I'm going to discuss the rebuilding of the wall with Michonne, I'll call for you when we come up with something.” 

With that he and Carl started walking towards their house, leaving Daryl in the middle of the street.  
Daryl shook his head in confusion and turned to walk to the house Paul was helping out on. 

*

“Though you said Rick hadn't given you something to do yet!” Daryl called at Paul from the ground. 

Paul perked up when he heard Daryl's voice and looked down on the ground. 

“He hadn't! I volunteered to do this!” Paul called back from the roof.  
“What are you doing here?!” He asked. 

“Come down here so we can talk like normal people!” Daryl shouted. 

Paul nodded and dropped down from the roof, landing on his feet with a feline grace.  
Daryl shook his head when Paul looked at him with a beaming smile. 

“Rick wanted me to help you out.” Daryl said.  
“What do you need help with?” 

Paul looked at him and shrugged.  
“There's not really anything left to do with this one. Just need to put some of the boards in place then I'm pretty much done.” 

“Alright.” Daryl said slowly.  
He couldn't help thinking there had to be a reason for Rick to more or less shove him in the direction of Paul.  
He decided to ask him about it later. 

“Okey, well. You got any plans for later?” He asked. 

Paul shook his head and smiled,  
“Not any I can think of.” 

*  
Daryl had let Paul finish up the roof in piece and walked back to his own house.  
He decided to take a shower while he waited for Paul, thinking it would take him a few hours to get there anyway.  
They had decided in the beginning of their agreement that they should see each other at night for their more intimate meetings, not wanting any other people to notice and start asking difficult questions.

He started the shower and undressed while he waited for the water to heat up. He wasn't that fuzzy about the temperature of the water and usually he would just hop into the shower while the water still was cold. But today he wanted to be able to stand in the spray of water for longer than three minutes, actually give himself time to enjoy it. 

When he noticed his bathroom starting to fog up he hopped into the shower, letting the hot water slowly relax his tensed up body.  
He had no idea that having feelings for somebody you shouldn't would be this though on his body, making him tense up whenever Paul was around or even when he just thought of the younger man. 

He took his time in the shower, actually using shampoo for his hair instead of just rinsing it with water like he usually did. 

When he felt the water staring to cool off he took it as his cue to get out.  
He grabbed his towel and dried himself off quickly.  
Wrapping the towel around his waist he got out of the bathroom and walked towards the bedroom across the hall. 

“I was wondering when you would show up!”  
Daryl jumped and saw Paul sitting cross legged on top of the bed.  
“I was starting to get worried about you. Thought you'd gotten stuck in the shower or something.” 

Daryl shook his head in light annoyance and walked over to his bureau to search for a pair of fresh underwear.

“Didn't think you would show up yet.” He mumbled with his back against Paul. 

“Right.” He heard Paul say. “We shouldn't meet until after sundown.” 

“Not if we don't want to risk getting caught and have to annoying questions, no.” Daryl said putting a pair of boxers on. 

He turned to face Paul. The man looked freshly cleaned and had changed his clothes from when he saw him before.  
He wore a loose fitting t-shirt and a pair of faded blue jeans. His hair – still a little damp from the shower – was pulled back in a messy bun on top of his head.  
The sight of him made Daryl's heart tighten in his chest.

“I know. But is it really anybody's business what we do?” Paul asked looking directly into his eyes. 

Daryl had no idea how to answer that question, and he couldn't help to wonder what made Paul ask it in the first place.  
Him being tho one starting all of this and all.  
It wasn't anybody's business who he choose to be with, but him and Paul weren't a couple. It felt like it would've been different if they were and not ‘almost friends who screwed each other on a regular basis’. 

“No it isn't. But I'm not up to answer questions from those nosy bastards.” He settled with. 

Paul leaned forward, placing his elbows on his knees and rested his head on his hands. 

“What would you say if they found out about us?” He asked, narrowing his eyes. 

Daryl squirmed where he stood by the bureau, suddenly feeling very vulnerable and exposed for some reason. It felt like Paul tried to look into his mind. 

“I don't know.” He said slowly. “Don't know what to call us. Fuck buddies? Friends with benefits? I just don't know.” 

“Okey.” Paul said frowning. 

Daryl turned away from Paul again, searching for a shirt and a pair of pants. He felt nervous, not knowing where Paul was going with this strange conversation.

“What if…” Paul started. 

“’What if’ what?” Daryl said, pulling on the first pair of pants he could find.  
He heard Paul draw in a shaky breath.

“What if I told you I wanted more than this?” He said barely above a whisper. 

Daryl dropped the shirt he was holding and spun around, convinced about he’d heard wrong. 

“What are you saying?” He asked, his heart thundering loudly in his chest. 

Paul looked terrified. Like he was two seconds from running out of the room. 

“I – I said,” Paul paused to draw a new shaky breath. The man visibly shaking on the bed. “What if I wanted more than this? What if I wanted more than just screwing around? What if I wanted to actually wake up next to you every morning and be allowed to just hold you, not having to stress back to Tara's place at the crack of dawn, because there's a risk of people finding out. I want more Daryl!” Paul dragged his hand across his face and looked away from Daryl's stunned face. “I've wanted it for a while actually.” He exhaled. 

Daryl stood rooted in place with his mouth agape and just stared at the younger man sitting on his bed.  
He was convinced he had fallen in the shower and had hit his head, and that this was all a dream created by his lovesick brain. 

He tried to pick himself together, failing every time.  
Paul's eyes drifting hesitatingly back to him.  
He looked ashamed and broken.  
His eyes were filled with a such deep sadness that Daryl almost broke down there and then. 

Paul's eyes dropped down to Daryl shirt still lying on the floor and opened his mouth,  
“ I understand if you don't want the same and if you want me to leave, I just – I couldn't keep up with this anymore.” Paul looked up at Daryl, his eyes shining with unshed tears. “I can't be with you without actually being with you anymore.” 

Paul sighed deeply and got up from the bed.  
He walked the few steps separating them and gave Daryl a soft kiss on the lips before he turned towards the door. 

Daryl took action and grabbed Paul's arm, not letting the man leave the room.  
Paul spun around looking shocked at Daryl's sudden movement.  
“Daryl what...” He got cut off by Daryl crashing his lips against Paul's in a kiss filled with passion. 

When they finally broke apart for air they held each other, trembling slightly.  
“I've wanted to be together with you, for real, for the longest time.” Daryl mumbled.

Paul looked up at Daryl, locking eyes with him.  
Paul's eyes swiveled with various emotions, the strongest Daryl could see was relief.  
“Does that mean you want to be with me too?” 

Daryl nodded, drawing in the smaller man into a tight hug.  
“I do. I really, really fucking do.” He said into Paul's hair. 

“Thank god!” Paul laughed. “I was convinced you would turn me down.”  
Daryl could feel the wetness from the tears now escaping Paul's eyes against his shoulder.

“Don't cry.” Daryl said softly.  
Paul laughed again and broke free to look up at Daryl.  
He was smiling trough the tears still escaping his eyes.

“Sorry, I'm just relived, and happy.” He said wiping his eyes with his hand. 

“Me too.” Daryl said ducking in for a second kiss, filled with all the emotions he was feeling right now. 

They ended up in bed together, their kisses heating up quickly.  
They took their time touching every piece of each other they could reach, their mouths only breaking apart for air, just to clasp them back together again. 

They made love for real this time. Slowly, taking in how their bodies responded to each touch and stroke.  
Daryl could feel his body filling up with all of his feelings for the man laying underneath him.  
Daryl broke their searing kiss to look down at him.  
His eyes were hooded with lust and something he only could identify as love.  
His parted lips were swollen from all the kisses, his hair had escaped the bun and were now laying fanned out on the pillow like a halo.  
He'd never looked more beautiful.  
Daryl leaned down to nibble on Paul's neck, making the man moan loudly.

“I love you.” Daryl said huskily against Paul's ear. 

Paul responded by turning his head to Daryl and kissed the junction of his neck. 

“I love you too.” He answered.

*  
Daryl woke up to a commotion coming from outside. There were the sound of hammers hitting metal and he could hear Rick yelling something at Carl. 

He started to sit up only to be halted by arm across his naked chest.  
He turned his head to look at the smiling man lying next to him.  
“Good morning.” He said, voice raspy with sleep. 

“Morning.” He said, smiling back at him. 

He slipped closer to Paul and gave him a soft kiss on the forehead and then one on the lips. 

“I could get used to this!” Paul chuckled. 

“Me too.” Daryl said laying back down next to him. 

They stayed like that for a while, just looking at each other.  
Daryl couldn't believe this was for real. He couldn't believe Paul actually had wanted to be together with him just as badly. 

“A penny for your thoughts.” He heard Paul say. 

“I'm just thinking about this.” He said gesturing at the two of them. 

“You don't regret anything right?” Paul joked. 

“Hell no!” He said dragging Paul into tight embrace. 

A particular loud noise startled them apart and dragged their attention towards the window. 

Daryl got up and peeked outside.  
Almost everyone living in Alexandria were working on the broken wall.  
Carl were sitting on top of the wall, shouting at someone on the outside. 

“They're working on the wall.” Daryl said turning around to look at Paul who were now sitting on the bed. 

“Maybe we should help out?” He asked. 

Daryl gave him a short nod and began to look for his clothes. 

*

“Try to lure the walkers away Carl!” Rick shouted for the twentieth time. 

“I can't do that if you're going to keep on shouting at me like that!” Carl shouted back at his father. 

“Just do it. We're almost done down here.” He said, clearly annoyed by his sons tone towards him. 

“Anything we can do to help out, Rick?” Paul asked, making the man turn around quickly.

“Paul! Daryl! Didn't hear you guys!” He said when his eyes landed at the pair behind him. 

“Don't blame you. Can barely hear myself think out here.” Daryl said looking at the wall.  
“I figure boss junior got his way?” He said with an amused look at Rick. 

Rick sighed and shook his head.  
“Yeah.” He said. “Michonne thought Carl's idea was a good one. So I lost that battle.” 

“Yeah, I wouldn't want to argue with her.” Paul said looking at the woman stabbing walkers through the small slits in the wall. 

“Me either.” Rick said laughing. “Where did you disappear to last night Jesus? We missed you this morning and Tara said you never turned up at their place yesterday.” He said it with a strange glint in his eyes. Like he knew something they didn't. 

He could feel Paul freezing up slightly next to him, but he slowly relaxed when Daryl grabbed his hand in his.  
Paul looked up at Daryl, who gave him a small nod and smiled. 

“I was over at Daryl's.” He simply said. 

“All night?” Rick asked, a huge grin started to form on his lips. 

“Yes. All night.” Paul said, watching Rick's strange behavior with an amused look. 

“Okay. You guys came to any nice conclusions?” He asked then. 

“What?” Daryl asked, taken aback by the question.  
He looked at Paul who seemed to be just as clueless as he was. 

“Oh come on you guys! You're not as sneaky as you think you are! We all know you're an item. We've watched you dance around each other for weeks now! I've wanted you to open up your eyes. That's why I've been pairing you guys up all the time!” He said grin turning into a genuine smile as he talked. 

Both Paul and Daryl stood there gaping at him. Looked like Daryl's family had known he had feelings for the man standing next to him before he did. 

“So? Have you guys stopped this ridiculous dance or do I have to lock you guys up together? Because I will do it!” He mock scolded, even though Daryl didn't doubt Rick would actually lock them up together if he felt like he needed it. 

“Yeah, yeah! We have!” Daryl said quickly, looking at Paul with eyes filled with the love he felt for the man.  
“We have.” 

“Well, good!” Rick said then, turning slightly towards the wall.  
“To answer your previous question, we could use all the help we can get.” 

Daryl broke his loving gaze at Paul to look over at Rick and nodded. 

He gave Paul a quick kiss before they both walked over to the wall.  
As he picked up a knife and helped Michonne stab the walkers peeking in from the outside he couldn't help to smile at the change he and Paul had gone through. 

From wanting to rip each other's throats out, to not wanting to part if it wasn't absolutely necessary. That was a proof that the line between love and hate was incredibly thin.  
And that a casual affair and some help from your nosy friends, could make you see who you really loved.


End file.
